Making Do

C and I decided it was time for the Lego table, which had made its way to our living room for the birthday party, to find a new home. It was getting a little ridiculous, taking up all the space that might otherwise be used for, er, living (of course the Lego's never stayed confined to the actual table), and it served a huge distraction, drawing the attention of any short person every time he passed by. It definitely had to go before school started.

The day of the hurricane seemed like a perfect time for a major rearrangement. The Lego's were slated for the basement, but first some cleaning was in order. C has moved a lot of junk valuable building materials and garden tools out to the barage, freeing up a lot of space.  First I swept and vacuumed 10 years of accumulated dust from under the stairs (I would regret this later that night when my bronchioles closed up), just to make the whole place a little more sanitary, then I worked on cleaning, dusting, vacuuming and de-spidering the intended play corner. As we worked, C and I got talking for our (long-term) plans for the space and, as all such conversations do, ended up with C getting grumpy and defensive because of course he's the one who would have to do all the drywalling, tiling, etc.

So, i decided to take matters into my own hands and brighten up this one gloomy color. I painted the concrete parts of the walls with the same pale yellow clay paint I had used in the pantry room. To hide the insulation-filled stud bays I had first thought of draping cloth, but then remembered all these Smoky Bear posters we had acquired during our Forest Service days. I had planned to use them down here if when we finish the room anyway. 

You can tell how spontaneous my redecorating was by the fact that I didn't even take "before" photos. Suffice it to say that pale yellow is much brighter and more cheerful than dull gray concrete.

We moved all the Lego's down (the drawer is too wide to go down the stairs full, so we transferred the Lego's to a grain bag, which they fill completely, not counting the already-built structures. And yet, these kids will fight over a single piece!!)

This is also where we hide the not earthy-mama-blogger-worthy toys, like remote control Hummers and boxes of random crap that we've scooped off the bedroom floor in frustration and sequestered in the basement.

There is still a ton of clutter down here that I need to deal with (you can see some of it on the right hand side of the photo), and of course that drywall, tile, ceiling, wiring, paint, etc. would be nice. But this little corner feels just right, for now.